Ascent Trip Report

Access notes:From Interstate 5 in the Central Valley, take CA-46 west at Lost Hills exit if coming from the south, or CA-41 west at Kettleman City exit if coming from the north. The two highways come together at James Dean Memorial Junction in Cholame. Immediately past the junction, turn north on Cholame Valley Road and continue for 13.4 miles to the junction with the signed Turkey Flat Road. This road has public access for about 4.1 miles to a locked gate, which is also where the private driveway to Oropesa Ranch goes off to the left. Vehicles should not be parked here, however, as the spot is perfectly visible from the ranch. Instead, pull over on the left (north) side of the road, about 3/4 mile before the gate, just before the road tops a hill and begins going down. The lat/long coordinates for this spot are: 35.87743, -120.36483. Pull over onto the grassy shoulder. For reasons of discretion, the number of vehicles should be kept to an absolute minimum.

Climbing notes:From the parking area, proceed eastward on Turkey Flat Road to where the pavement ends at the gate. Bypass the gate and continue moving east on what is now a flat dirt road (still referred to as Turkey Flat on maps). At about 1 mile, the road curves to the south, followed soon after by a faint junction. Take the obvious left branch and continue for 0.6 miles until directly under the power lines and close to the base of a large tower. Turn on the road coming in sharply from the left and begin heading uphill under the power lines.

This new road is not as well maintained as Turkey Flat, but is still pretty obvious to follow. It also gains elevation steadily. At about 2.2 miles from the sharp turn, gate #2 (elev. 2480) is encountered, followed by gate #3 (elev. 2660) about 0.3 miles further. Bypass these gates and continue upward. In another 0.3 miles from the last gate, a junction is reached. An obvious road goes off to the right, downhill, and at first glance this looks the way to go, but it is not correct. The faint road coming from the gate continues to the left. Proceed uphill by taking the left branch.

After this somewhat confusing junction, the quality of the road improves and following it is straightforward all the way to the summit ridge of Table Mountain, where it flattens out (elev. 3300). On the ridge, the road continues eastward, encountering a barbed-wire fence. Proceed past the fence and continue following the road as it gently rises to the summit area (elev. 3450). Two new barbed-wire fence appear on the right, the first one older and decrepit, the second one more recent and sturdier, with the wires closer together. There is a rudimentary gate in the second fence that can be opened slightly to squeeze through. It is helpful to have a GPS and a waypoint for the summit marker to find this entrance point.

Bypass the two fences and reach the summit marker about 200 ft south from the road. There is a USGS benchmark with the name 'Kings' and a register in a red can, placed in a small rock pile adjacent to the benchmark. The register goes back to 2001 and contains the signatures of the usual CoHP suspects. There are trees everywhere, so views are restricted, and non-existent at night.

For the return, retrace the route exactly and proceed past the 6 obstacles (3 fences and 3 gates) to reach the vehicle. There were no signs of the roads having been driven recently, but we did see stacks of long pipes and other construction materials along Turkey Flat road past the first gate. There were no lights on at Oropesa Ranch; however, a white car was parked right at the entrance to the driveway, where the paved road ends, and we noticed a security camera right above the entrance. One may encounter cows along the power lines road, as well as further down.

Approximate statistics for this route, starting farther out as mentioned, are 14.2 miles and 2200 ft gain. GPS track will not be posted here, but is available upon request.